Introduction
Readwise is a tool designed to help you get more out of what you read by making it easy to revisit and learn from your highlights and annotations. It pulls your highlights from various sources into one place, uses spaced repetition to resurface them, and lets you organize and connect ideas. Readwise is a paid product with a free trial.
What is Readwise?
Readwise is a service that aggregates your reading highlights and annotations from sources like Kindle, Instapaper, and Apple Books. It provides a daily email and app for reviewing highlights, and uses spaced repetition to help you remember what you read. You can search, tag, and add notes to highlights, and sync them with other tools.
What makes Readwise stand out?
- It syncs highlights from multiple sources, including Kindle, Instapaper, and Apple Books.
- It uses spaced repetition to resurface highlights at optimal times for memory retention.
- It offers a daily email and app for easy review.
- It allows you to search, tag, and annotate highlights, and connect ideas across your reading.
- It integrates with other tools and provides AI access to your library via MCP, CLI, and API.
- It includes features like scanning physical book pages, tracking reading stats, and chatting with your highlights via Ghostreader.
Who is it for?
- Readers who want to remember more of what they read.
- Knowledge workers, researchers, and students who collect highlights and notes.
- Users of Kindle, Instapaper, Apple Books, and similar reading platforms.
- People building a "second brain" or personal knowledge management system.
- Anyone who wants to integrate their reading highlights with AI tools and other apps.
What can you do with Readwise?
- Import highlights from Kindle, Instapaper, Apple Books, and more.
- Review highlights via a daily email and app.
- Use spaced repetition to recall and grow your knowledge.
- Search, tag, and add notes to highlights.
- Scan physical book pages to save highlights and annotations.
- Track your reading and review stats, including streaks.
- Chat with your highlights using Ghostreader, with answers citing the source highlights.
- Connect AI tools like Claude, ChatGPT, and Cursor to your Readwise library via MCP.
- Use the CLI and API to search, read, and organize your library from the terminal.
- Run pre-built agent skills for automated workflows.
How does Readwise work?
Readwise connects to your reading sources and imports your highlights and annotations into a central library. It then uses spaced repetition to resurface highlights through a daily email and app, helping you review and remember them over time. You can organize highlights with tags and notes, search your entire library, and sync with other tools. Advanced features include scanning physical books, chatting with your highlights via Ghostreader, and connecting AI tools through MCP, CLI, and API.
Pricing
Readwise is free for the first 30 days, after which it costs a small monthly fee. The price label is Paid.
Alternatives
Alternatives to Readwise include other highlight management and spaced repetition tools, as well as general note-taking apps. However, specific alternatives are not listed in the source text.
FAQ
What sources can I import highlights from?
Readwise can sync highlights from Kindle, Instapaper, Apple Books, and more.
How does Readwise help me remember what I read?
It uses spaced repetition to resurface your best highlights at the right times, and sends a daily email for review.
Can I use Readwise with AI tools?
Yes, Readwise offers MCP, CLI, and API access, allowing AI tools like Claude, ChatGPT, and Cursor to access your library.
Is there a free trial?
Yes, Readwise is free for the first 30 days, after which it costs a small monthly fee.
